Well elevator



Dec. 29, 1936. w. w. WILSON I 2,065,781

w EEEE LEVATOR Filed Sept. '7, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hil 1 7 4m 67 Z IIIa, I

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w. w. WILSON WELL ELEVATOR Deb. 29, 1936.

FiledSept. 7, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 78 ngllliamwmlsm,

Dec. 29, 1936. w. w. WILSON WELL-ELEV Dec. 29, 1936. w. w. WILSON2,065,781

WELL ELEVATOR F'ilewse t. -71 1935 4.,Sheets-She et 4 mllia/mWVVi'lsonPatented Dec. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 21 Claims.

The present invention relates to elevators of the type adapted to beengaged with a casing or pipe in order to support the same within theoil well derrick.

Elevators of the general type disclosed in this application are oftenapplied to the work, such as a casing, when the elevator is being movedup and down by suspension means in rapid motion. Since it is necessaryfor attendants to be on the derrick floor during operations, it ishighly desirable to provide an elevator which will insure permanentlocking engagement of the jaws, so that the casing will not be droppedwith consequent injury to personnel.

Heretofore, the skill of the derrick man has been relied upon to a greatextent to insure that the elevator is properly applied to the casing,and the present invention is adapted to insure that the casing will bepermanently gripped by the elevator and will not be released by the samewhen the casing sways from side to side while suspended.

In operating with elevators of conventional type, the elevator jaws havebeen closed when applied sufficiently to be held around the casingduring vertical movement of the same by the engagement of the uppersurfaces of the jaws with the under surface of the casing coupling,without said jaws being in latched or locked condition.

While the engagement of the upper surface of the jaws with the casingcoupling may be suflicient to support the casing regarding verticalmovement of the same, swaying motion of said casing may be suificient topermit the jaws to open, thus releasing the casing and permitting it todrop upon the derrick floor with consequent damage and danger.

p The elevators of the present invention are adapted to insure that thejaws will be locked around the casing and will be retained in locked orlatched condition, irrespective of the motion of the casing.

The objects of the present invention are to provide elevators of thistype which may be applied to the casing with facility; which will beheld in casing engaging position even though not completely closed, andwhich will also be held in such engaging position during all operationssubsequent to the application of the elevator to the casing, therebyobviating all possibility of danger or damage resulting from dropping ofthe casing from the elevator.

In the drawings, which are illustrative of two forms of the invention,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the elevator of this invention,showing the jaws in open position;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the elevator,with the jaws in partially closed position;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view corresponding to Figure 2, ofthe elevator through the latching mechanism showing the latter inpreliminary latching position;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the elevator, partly in section,showing the jaws in locked position after they have engaged the casing;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the elevator through thelatching mechanism, with the jaws in the position of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the elevatorthrough the latching mech anism, showing the latter in secondarylatching position;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view through the hinge pintle of theelevator, taken along the line '|-1 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of the latching mechanism detent;

Figure 9 is a plan view of a modified form of the invention;

Figure 10 is a side elevational view of the modifled form of theinvention shown in Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a. partial top plan view of the modification shown inFigure 9, showing the jaws in primary latching position; and

Figure 12 is a perspective view of the latching elements carried by theelevator gate;

In the drawings I have shown the invention applied to elevators of theside door type, but it will be understood that the invention may beapplied to elevators of any other type.

Referring to Figure 1, the elevator comprises a jaw A forming the bodyof the device, and a jaw B comprising the gate. The body and gate arepivoted to one another by a hinge pintle III which passes throughalternate knuckles H and I2 formed on the body and gate, respectively.

The inner surface of the body member is semicylindrically recessed as atH to receive and embrace one side of the casing, and the inner surfaceof the gate is similarly recessed as shown at IE to likewise embrace thecasing, it being apparent that the casing will be surrounded andcarried. by the jaws when the same are in closed position.

A latching mechanism is carried by the jaws, this mechanism comprising adetent l8 pivoted at I! on one of the jaws, in the present instance, the

body, and a cooperating latching member or bolt I! carried by the otherjaw, in the present instance, the gate |6..

When the elevator is applied to the casing, as discussed above, and thegate is moved to closed position, the bolt It will be engaged by thedetent I6 to retain the gate in closed position.

After the elevator has been applied to the casing, the two may beelevated by power applied through any suitable suspension meansconnected with the elevator through openings 22 at each end of the bodyA, and which openings are defined by upper and lower arms 23 and 24,respectively, which extend from the'body. A pintle 25 is movable in avertical bore in the arm 23 so that its lower end will substantiallyclose the space between the two arms.

To facilitate the handling of the elevator, as

well as to enable the gate to be readily operated, the latter isprovided with a suitable handle HQ In order to provide for locking theelevator in casing engaging position, the gate B is mounted to permitvertical shifting movement of. the cooperating jaws, i. e., the body andgate, in a manner generally similar to that followed in the elevatorshown in the patent to Charles E. Wilcox, No. 1,782,754, November 25,1930. In order to obtain this movement, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 ofthe present application, the space between the hinge knuckles II issubstantially greater than the thickness of the hinge knuckle 2, so thatthe knuckles and jaws are capable of limited vertical shifting movementwith respect to one another. The lowermost knuckle II is recessed as at21 to receive the lower end of a heavy spring 28, the upper end of whichrests against the bottom surface of the lowermost knuckle l2.

As in the construction shown in the above mentioned patent to Charles E.Wilcox, the spring 28 tends to yieldingly urge the gate B toward uppershifted position with respect to the body A, in which position acooperating locking mechanism, hereinafter described,'will be out ofengagement.

When the elevator has been applied to the casing, the former is movedupwardly about the casing until it contacts with the casing coupling 2|as shown in'Figure4, when the casing will be supported by theelevator,and the jaws A and B will be vertically shifted against the force ofspring," to a position wherein the cooperating sidewith a hub lllaroundwhich is positioned a looking mechanismcarried by the jaws, andhereinafter described, is in locking position.

The detent l6, which isfof the conformation shown in Figure 8, isprovided at its lower inner detentspringjl best illustrated in Figures 1and 2. One end of the detent spring bears in a kerf 32 in the outer face,of the detent, while the opposite end of the spring bears against thebody as at 33.. By this construction, the spring 3| will at all timestend to urge the detent l6, ina clockwise direction (Figure 1) aroundthe pintle I'l to position the detent for latching cooperation with thebolt I 8 when the gate B is closed. As illustrated in Figure 1,- thedetent I8 is limited against inward movement by a lug carried by thesame, which is adapted to engage a projection 30 on the front face ofthe body A, and outward movement of the detent against the force of thespring is limited by contact of a lug 21 carried by the detent and whichengages the opposite faceof the projection II.

When the gate B is in elevated position relative to the body A, the boltII will be b91 10 tally opposite the primary and secondary latchingrecesses 40 and 4| on the detent. The engaging face of the bolt I8 issuitably inclined or beveled to cooperate with the inclined faces ofthese latching recesses of the detent.

When the derrick man swings the gate B to a fully closed position aroundthe casing, the jaws (the body and gate) will be in substantiallylatched condition as the bolt l8 successively passes from the latchingrecess 40 as shown in Figure 3 and into the latching recess 4| as shownin Figure 6.

As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the gate is provided with a downwardlyinclined locking surface which is adapted to engage an upwardly andoutwardly inclined locking surface 46 on the body A.

After the gate is thus completely closed, the elevator may be lifted bythe suspension means until the upper surface of the gate B engages thecoupling 2| of the casing, as shown in Figure 6. Further upward movementof the elevator after such engagement will result in upward movement ofthe body A with respect to the gate B, the latter being held againstmovement because of its contact with the coupling 2|. This movement ofthe body A will result in contact of the inclined locking surface 46with the inclined locking surface 45, and will also result in a relativeupward movement of the detent It with respect to the bolt l8.

As shown in Figures 2, 4 and 8, the detent I6 is cut out on its innerface to provide a recess 48.

' When the body A moves upwardly with respect to the gate B uponengagementof the latter with the coupling 2|, the resulting upwardmovement of the detent It will cause the recess 48 to be positionedopposite the bolt, and the detent will then move inwardly over the boltunder pressure of. the detent spring 3|, thereby locking the gate 3against both swinging and upwardly sliding movement with respect to thebody A.

In applying the elevator to the casing, as dis-' cussed above,difllculty is often encountered by 'the derrick man due to workingconditions, such has not had an opportunity to completely close thejaws.

If the derrick man is only able to move the jaws together to suchan'extent that the bolt is in the preliminary latching position shown inFigured, the subsequent contact of the elevator with the casing couplingwill result in the follow ing action: First, the resulting upwardmovement of the body A with respect to the gate B will cause theinclined locking surface 4| on the body to slidingly abut with theinclined lockingsurface 45 on the gate, driving or wedging the gateinwardly to full latching position. Second, with the bolt ll of the gatein full latching position,

further upward movement of the body A with respect to the gate B willcause the recess 48 in the detent It to move opposite the bolt ll sothat the detent may swing inwardly to theposition shown in Figure 4,thereby securely locking the body and gate with respect to each other.

' In other words, even though the elevator is not completely latchedwhen applied to the casing, the subsequent shifting of the jaws whenthey engage the casing coupling will move them to full latching positionand then to locking position.

It will be obvious that if the elevator and the casing coupling shouldbe moved away from each other after they have once come into fullcontact. the jaws of the elevator will be held in looking position byreason of the locking engagement of the detent I6 above and about thebolt 18, so that there will be no possibility of the elevator beingreleased, as occurs in elevators where only a latching position isprovided.

It will be noted also that when the elevator is in the locking positionshown in Figure 4, the weight of the gate B will not bear upon thedetent IS on the body but will be entirely supported by the inclinedsurface 46 on the body and upon the lugs I I and shoulder 50 in whichthe detent is mounted. This will prevent the jaws being released byreason of breakage of the detent or the pintle which supports the same.

In order to entirely obviate the possibility of the detent being movedoutwardly (in the direction of the arrow D in Figure 4) from lockedposition, the body A is provided with a groove 49 into which lug 49a onthe detent moves when the jaws are in locked position.

Referring to Figures 9 to 12, these illustrate a slightly modified formof elevator including a body 60 and a gate 6|, the two being joinedtogether by a hinge construction generally indicated by the numeral 62.This elevator is intended to be supported or suspended by an arrangementgenerally similar to that described in connection with Figures 1 to 8.

The body 60 is provided with a detent 63 secured to a pin 64 mounted inthe vertically spaced apertured lugs 65 on the body as shown in Figure10. A spring 66 encircles the pin 64 at the lower end of the latter, oneend of the spring bearing in a notch in the pin and the other endbearing against a shoulder 61 on the body 60, with the result that thedetent will be biased to inward position by the spring.

The detent 63 is provided with shoulders 68 and 69 to limit its swingingmovement on the body A.

The gate 6| is provided with two vertically spaced elements as indicatedat I adapted to cooperate with the detent 63, these members being formedintegral with the gate 6| so that the body portion H of the detent maymove between them while the head 12 of the detent will engage bothelements. Each elementis provided with two projections 13 and I4.Obviously, if the gate is not moved to wholly closed position, the headof the detent 12 will engage behind projections 13, giving the jaws apreliminary latching position. In order to permit the latching membersto cooperate in this position, the head of the detent 63 is recessed asindicated at so that the outer projections 14 of the elements I0 mayseat in this recess when the jaws are in preliminary locking position asshown in Figure 11.

If the derrick man is able to close the jaws to be fully latched, theywill occupy the position shown in Figure 9, wherein the detent is behindor outside of the projections 14 on the gate, the head 12 of the detentthen resting against a stop 16 provided between the latching elements70.

By the arrangement just described, an entirely satisfactory latching ofthe jaws of the elevator may be obtained even though the elevator ismoving upwardly so rapidly that the derrick man cannot fully latch thesame. It may be that a casing has deposits thereon which prevent thederrick man from entirely closing the jaws at the only moment when theelevator is within his reach, and the present provision of an outer orpreliminary latching position will overcome the difficulties which mightotherwise occur by reason of such a condition.

I claim:

1. In a casing elevator, a plurality of work engaging jaws adapted toengage around a casing. latching mechanism carried by said jaws, andmeans included in said latching mechanism for latching said jaws in aplurality of positions.

2. In a casing elevator, a plurality of work engaging jaws adapted toengage around a casing, latching mechanism including cooperatinglatching members carried by said jaws, and means included in one of saidmembers for latching said jaws in a plurality of positions. 7

3. In a casing elevator, a plurality of work engaging jaws adapted toengage around a casing for supporting the same, latching mechanismcarried by said jaws for latching the same substantially in workengaging position around said casing and automatically operable forlocking said jaws around said casing when the weight of the casing issupported by the elevator.

4. In a casing elevator, a pair of work engaging jaws, cooperatingelements carried by said jaws to secure the same together, said elementsbeing arranged to latch said jaws upon move ment of said jaws in onedirection with respect to each other and to lock said jaws againstfurther movement upon movement of said jaws in another direction withrespect to each other.

5. In a casing elevator. a pair of work engaging jaws. cooperatingelements carried by said jaws to secure the same together, said elementsbeing arranged to latch said jaws upon movement of said jaws in onedirection with respect to each other and to lock said jaws againstfurther movement of said jaws in another direction with respect to eachother, and means to support said jaws with respect to each other andfree of the cooperating elements when in locked position.

6. In a casing elevator, a pair of jaws pivotally connected for relativemovement along the axis of their pivotal connection, cooperatingelements carried by the jaws to secure them together. said elementsbeing arranged to latch the jaws upon predetermined pivotal movementthereof and to lock the jaws against further movement upon relativemovement along their pivotal axis.

7. In a casing elevator, a pair of work engaging jaws. cooperatingelements carried by said jaws to secure the same together, said elementsbeing arranged to latch thejaws upon movement of said jaws in onedirection with respect to each other and to lock said jaws upon movementof said jaws in another direction with respect to each other, saidcoopera ingelementsments including means to retain the jaws when inlocking position against further relative movement.

9. In a casing elevator, a pair of work engaging jaws, said jaws beingconnected to be movable with respect to each other in two directions atright angles to each other, cooperating securing elements carried by thejaws, one of the elements being movable to latch the jaws upon relativemovement of said jaws in one direction, and to lock the jaws withrespect to each other upon subsequent movement of said jaws in the otherdirection.

10. In a casing elevator, a pair of work engaging jaws connected forrelative movement in two directions at right angles to each other, adetent carried by one of said jaws, a cooperating member carried by theother of said jaws, said detent being arranged for a limited latchingmovement with respect to the cooperating member upon the movement of thejaws in one direction relative to each other, and for a further andlocking movement upon movement of the jaws in the other direction withrespect to each other.

11. In a casing elevator, a pair of work engaging jaws pivotallyconnected for relative movement along the axis of their pivotalconnection, a detent carried by one of the jaws and a cooperating membercarried by the other jaw, the detent being arranged for limited andlatching movement with respect to the cooperating member upon pivotalmovement of the jaws, and for a further and locking movement uponmovement of the jaws axially of the pivotal connection.

12. In a casing elevator, a pair of jaws pivotally mounted for movementaxially of their pivot, means to hold the jaws spaced along their pivot,cooperating inclined surfaces on the jaws, movement of the jaws axiallyof their pivot causing the inclined surfaces to coact to move the jawsto closed position in a pivotal direction and means thereupon effectiveto lock the jaws against return movement. .13. In a casing elevator, apair of jaws pivotally connected for movement axially of their pivot,means to hold the jaws spaced along their pivot, cooperating inclinedsurfaces on the jaws, movement ofthe jaws axially of their pivot causingthe inclined surfaces tocoact to move thejaws to closed .position in apivotal direction and means thereupon effective to lock the jaws againstreturn movement, the inclined surfaces being arranged to support thejaws rigidly with respect to each other upon operation of saidlast-named means.

14. In an elevator, a pair of work engaging jaws adapted to engage acasing for supporting the same, latching mechanism carried by said jawsfor latching the same in work engaging position around said casing, andfor locking said jaws in position when the elevator supports the casing,and means for retaining said latching means in looking engagement uponsubsequent removal of the weight of the casing from said jaws inposition to prevent pivotal movement of l the same when the elevatorsupports the. casing, and means for retaining said mechanism in lookingengagement upon subsequent removal of the weight of the casing from saidjaws.

16. In an elevator, a pair of work engaging jaws adaptedvto engage acasing for supporting the same, latching mechanism carried by said jawsfor latching the same in work engaging position aroundsaid casing, meansassociated with said jaws including locking means to permit said jaws toshift relatively to one another to lock the same in work engagingposition when the elevator supports the casing, and means associatedwith said first named means to prevent reverse shifting movement of saidjaws when the weight of the casing is removed therefrom.

17. In a casing elevator, a pair of pivotally connected jaws, said jawsbeing movable relative to each other along their pivot, spring meanstending' to hold said jaws spaced along their pivot, a bolt carried byone of the jaws, a pivoted detent carried by the other jaw, said detentand bolt cooperating to latch the jaws when closed by pivotal movement,and said detent being arranged to lock the bolt to hold the jaws againstfurther movement when the jaws are moved'relative to each other alongtheir pivotal axis.

18. In a casing elevator, a pair of pivoted jaws having movement axiallyof their pivot, yielding means to hold the jaws spaced along theirpivot, latching mechanism carried by said jaws, and means included insaid latching mechanism for latching said jaws in a plurality ofpositions, cooperating inclined surfaces on the jaws, movement of thejaws axially at their pivot causing the inclined surfaces to move thejaws to closed position in a pivotal direction from the first latchingposition to the final latching position.

19. In a casing elevator, a pair of pivoted jaws having movement axiallyof their pivot, yielding means to hold the jaws spaced along theirpivot, latching mechanism carried by said jaws, and means included insaid latching mechanism for latching said jaws in a plurality'ofpositions, said jaws being so formed relatively to each other thatmovement of the jaws axially at their pivot will move the jaws to closedposition in a pivotal direction from'the" first latching position to thefinal latching position.

20. In a casing elevator, a pair of pivoted jaws having'movement axiallyof their pivot, latching mechanism carried by said jaws, and meansincluded in said latching mechanism for latching said jaws in aplurality of positions, cooperating inclined surfaces on the jaws,movement of the jaws axially of their pivot causing the inclinedsurfaces to move the jaws to closed position in a pivotal direction fromthe first latching position to the final latching position. r

21. In a casing elevator, a pair of pivoted jaws having movement axiallyof their pivot, latching mechanism carried by said jaws, and meansincluded in said latching mechanism for latching said jaws in aplurality of positions, said jaws being so formed relatively to eachother that movement of thejaws axially of their pivot will move the jawsto closed position in av pivotal direction from the first latchingposition to the final latching position.

WILLIAM W. WILSON.

